Internet connection problem - which adapter to get?

[CelticRose]

Ethernet ports can fail, so a USB to Ethernet adapter is perhaps a good fallback to have.

FWIW, basic Ethernet is 10 Mbps. Fast Ethernet is 100 Mbps and has pretty much been standard for years now; unless your laptop is ten years or older I'd doubt it would be any less than FE. Gigabit Ethernet, 1000 Mbps, is found in lots of machines now also.

My laptop is about 2 1/2 years old, and at one point was getting around 30 Mbps, so it's most likely capable of getting the 50 Mbps that I'm aiming for (once it's fixed, that is).

An important consideration is the cost of troubleshooting the problem. Diagnosing the problem completely can very easily exceed the $20.00 or less cost of a USB connected NIC.

Very true, which is why I'm opting for the USB to ethernet adapter rather than taking the laptop to a repair shop.

To everybody: Relax folks. I'm not just going to blindly follow any directions y'all might give me. Feel free to make any suggestions. If I don't understand something, I'll ask questions. If it's something that I don't feel like I'm knowledgeable enough to tackle on my own, I'll say so. I won't do anything that I don't feel comfortable doing. And I do have just enough computer knowledge to know what I shouldn't be poking around in and should leave to the experts.

 

[Yalius]

If you have certain Intel ethernet controllers, they have a power-saving mode that throttles down to 10Mbps link speed when running on battery. Do you get the same speeds when you have the power cord plugged in?

 

[CelticRose]

If you have certain Intel ethernet controllers, they have a power-saving mode that throttles down to 10Mbps link speed when running on battery. Do you get the same speeds when you have the power cord plugged in?

I always have the power cord plugged in. I use my laptop as a desktop replacement rather than a mobile device. It takes up less space, and with my tiny hands it's easier to type on a compact laptop keyboard.

 

[CelticRose]

It's fixed!

Now that my brain's not quite as fried as it has been lately, I finally got around to googling jbm's suggestion:

Have you checked the status of the network connection, i.e. if your NIC connects at the correct speed/duplex setting (e.g. 100MBit/full duplex or whatever you want it to be?). Sometimes, the automatic configuration fails and an adapter only connects at half duplex or even only at 10Mbit, if things go horribly wrong. Then, you will still be able to browse the Internet etc., but it will all be super slow. You could fix that by manually configuring the speed/duplex settings.

I found this and followed these directions:

Right click on the network icon in the sys tray and click, "open network sharing center". In the left pane, click "change adapter settings". Right click on "local area connection", and select " properties".

Under " connect using", click on "configure". Click on the "advanced" Tab, find "speed/duplex settings" If it is set to auto negotiate, try all other settings.

I changed the speed/duplex setting to 100 Mbps half duplex and it fixed the problem! I tested my speed and got 59.35 Mbps download, 6.24 Mbps upload on http://speedof.me/ and 57.99 Mbps, 6.71 Mbps download on http://www.speedtest.net/ which is better than what I should be getting.



You folks are the best! Thank you so much for all your help.

 

[Hellbound]

Great news, CelticRose.

Although, if I may make a suggestion, I'd try to find a 100Mbps Full Duplex mode and try that. If it works, that will give you better performance.

Not sure how familiar you are with what that means, but half-duplex means you can send or recieve, but not both at the same time. Full Duplex will let it go both ways. It's the difference between a walkie-talkie and a telephone, basically.

But realistically, it's going to switch between send and recieve fast enough that it shouldn't be much of an issue

 

[CelticRose]

Great news, CelticRose.

Although, if I may make a suggestion, I'd try to find a 100Mbps Full Duplex mode and try that. If it works, that will give you better performance.

Not sure how familiar you are with what that means, but half-duplex means you can send or recieve, but not both at the same time. Full Duplex will let it go both ways. It's the difference between a walkie-talkie and a telephone, basically.

But realistically, it's going to switch between send and recieve fast enough that it shouldn't be much of an issue

I tried the full duplex first and lost the ethernet connection entirely, so then I tried the half duplex and it worked.

Thanks for the explanation, though. I was kind of wondering what those terms meant but didn't have time to google them just then.

 

[jbm]

Great to hear that the internet speed problem is fixed

Technically speaking though, it looks as if you still have a problem (though you probably could live with things as they are right now, if all you do over that network connection is use the internet).

It seems as if the ethernet adapter in your notebook and the ethernet port you plug it into do not fully "understand" each other. Normally, modern ethernet cards use "auto negotiation", that is, when you connect the cable, both sides (the router and your notebook) talk to each other and tell each other what speed settings they are capable of, and then they agree on the highest setting both can use. Alternatively, you can use fixed setting (i.e. choose a speed setting yourself), either on both sides, or only on one side and the other side will adapt. It seems that in your case, the automatic configuration does not work correctly (maybe both sides agree on a really slow speed like 10 mbit, or even on different speeds, which causes errors and retransmissions). It also is never a good sign when you choose 100/full and the network connection completely fails, usually that is either a cable problem or a ethernet port on either side is defective (have you tried connecting the cable to a different port on the router? Maybe the one you have been using until now is simply defective in some way).

"Modern" (last 15 years or so) ethernet cards should ALL be able to do 100/full reliably. If only 100/half works, something is wrong.

If you have tried a different cable AND a different port on the router, and the problem still exists, then the only options left I can think of are either the technician's suggestion of buying some USB adapter (probably easiest and most likely to fix the problem 100%) or trying to find a network port your notebook can auto negotiate with successfully (e.g. put some cheap $10 switch in between your notebook and the router - does not fix the problem, though, if the ethernet card on your notebook really has a hardware defect and not just a "personal problem" with your router).

Or you can just ignore the problem, if you are happy with things as they are right now

 

[CelticRose]

Great to hear that the internet speed problem is fixed

Technically speaking though, it looks as if you still have a problem (though you probably could live with things as they are right now, if all you do over that network connection is use the internet).

It seems as if the ethernet adapter in your notebook and the ethernet port you plug it into do not fully "understand" each other. Normally, modern ethernet cards use "auto negotiation", that is, when you connect the cable, both sides (the router and your notebook) talk to each other and tell each other what speed settings they are capable of, and then they agree on the highest setting both can use. Alternatively, you can use fixed setting (i.e. choose a speed setting yourself), either on both sides, or only on one side and the other side will adapt. It seems that in your case, the automatic configuration does not work correctly (maybe both sides agree on a really slow speed like 10 mbit, or even on different speeds, which causes errors and retransmissions). It also is never a good sign when you choose 100/full and the network connection completely fails, usually that is either a cable problem or a ethernet port on either side is defective (have you tried connecting the cable to a different port on the router? Maybe the one you have been using until now is simply defective in some way).

"Modern" (last 15 years or so) ethernet cards should ALL be able to do 100/full reliably. If only 100/half works, something is wrong.

If you have tried a different cable AND a different port on the router, and the problem still exists, then the only options left I can think of are either the technician's suggestion of buying some USB adapter (probably easiest and most likely to fix the problem 100%) or trying to find a network port your notebook can auto negotiate with successfully (e.g. put some cheap $10 switch in between your notebook and the router - does not fix the problem, though, if the ethernet card on your notebook really has a hardware defect and not just a "personal problem" with your router).

Or you can just ignore the problem, if you are happy with things as they are right now

I'm just going to ignore the problem since I'm happy with things as they are now. I understand what you're saying and I'll bear it in mind if things should go wrong in the future, but for now the internet's working just fine, I'm getting the speed I'm paying for, and that's all I need.

Thanks again for your help. It's greatly appreciated.